Poll: McCain, Obama in Dead Heat

With just a little more than two months to go before the presidential election in November, Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., has gained enough ground in the polls to draw statistically even with his rival Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill.

In the most recent Pew Poll released Wednesday, just 3 percentage points separate the two candidates vying for the White House. Obama leads slightly with 46 percent of the vote, while McCain is closing in with 43 percent.

However, in late June, Obama held a more comfortable lead – 8 percentage points – over McCain, 48 percent to 40 percent. And in July, the lead Obama held narrowed 47 percent to 42 percent.

This trend is indicative of a play in shifting voter sentiment, the Pew findings reveal. While McCain is roping in more support from his party’s political base, Obama has experienced a decrease in support among his core constituencies.

The survey shows 83% of Democrats favoring Obama compared with 87% of Republicans who say they will support McCain.

In addition, the amount of support Obama is garnering from Democratic presidential nomination opponent Hillary Clinton’s voter base stands at just 72 percent, while backers of McCain’s former rivals for the GOP nomination are weighing in at a hefty 88 percent.

When race is thrown into the mix, 88 percent of African-Americans are backing Obama, while McCain leads among white voters 51 percent to 39 percent. When gender is considered, McCain leads among male voters 49 percent to 41 percent, while women favor Obama by roughly the same margin, 51 percent to 38 percent.

Among voters under 30 years of age, Obama holds a 24 percentage-point lead over McCain. Voters over 50, however, prefer McCain to Obama 47 percent to 42 percent.

The survey shows that swing voters stand at 33 percent, with 12 percent leaning to Obama, and 11 percent to McCain. Undecided voters make up 10 percent of the poll results.

With just a little more than two months to go before the presidential election in November, Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., has gained enough ground in the polls to draw statistically even with his rival Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill.In the most recent Pew Poll released Wednesday,...